


My Goldfish Boyfriend

by wrorus



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Akakuro - Freeform, M/M, Slash, Slow Romance, Yaoi, magical transformations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-02-11 05:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2054586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrorus/pseuds/wrorus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kagami gives a red goldfish to Kuroko that he got as a prize from a local festival's goldfish scooping game, Kuroko isn't sure what to make of it when the newly bought fishbowl is empty, the goldfish is missing and there's a handsome red haired man with heterochromatic eyes in his bathtub that is obviously naked to anyone with a pair of eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. a new roommate

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, I'm crossposting from ffnet! I'll be posting all 3 chapters I've written already straight away. I hope ya'll AO3 folks like this akakuro story. ^^

* * *

In the tied up plastic bag filled with seawater that was thrust to his face by his best friend, there was a red goldfish swimming inside it with furious twists and turns, as if wanting to escape the seemingly offensive man-made fish prison.

Kuroko isn't sure why Kagami had a goldfish, or why Kagami even bothered calling him (he said it was an emergency, Kuroko thought darkly, thinking of new ways to torture his ex-high school classmate, like bringing Nigou, his dog, more often when visiting the redhead) but he decided to listen and analyze the situation before judging.

But Kuroko couldn't help but say this:

"Kagami-kun, did you call me here as an urgent demand to show off your goldfish? I may not be good at jokes, but this is not funny."

The redhead in question, blushed and sputtered in an indignant manner. "Of course not! I just wanted to call you here because I wanted to give this," he said 'this' in a rather cold and angry way, kind of like he emphasized how the goldfish (if indirectly) insulted him. Kuroko felt himself wondering why he bothered to even care. "To you because apparently, it doesn't like me and tried to jump out the fishbowl multiple times. It's a suicidal and stupid fish."

When the word 'stupid' was uttered, the goldfish seemed to gain some sort of inhumane (?) strength — though technically, it was equivalent to a human's light poke with the index finger, but for a fish, it was pretty strong — and headbutted the plastic bag a few times in retaliation, making the plastic bag shake a few times, as if to say wordlessly that the goldfish did not appreciate being called 'stupid'.

Kuroko wasn't sure if he imagined the wordless action or if he was drunk (since when did he drink alcohol of any kind?) but he found the action in an endearing kind of way, like a small child being rebellious to show how mature he or she was to his or her mother.

Though that aside, there were other questions that needed to be answered first. Like, for example, how did Kagami even get the goldfish in the first place when he, 1) hates pets, 2) is a terrible pet owner, 3) other mundane reasons aside, Kagami is officially the worst pet owner in existence. Plus, Kagami would never waste money on a pet because he's a cheapskate; the kind of cheapskate where they buy plastic plants instead of real plants because the 'soil is too expensive', 'wasting water for a plant is pointless' and 'I might accidentally set it on fire', which, the latter, only applies to the redhead.

"So, why did you have a goldfish in the first place?" asked Kuroko. Obviously, his friend didn't fish for it; Kagami is more of a basketball type than a fisher. If he ever took fishing as a hobby, it would be to save money to buy fishes from the market in the first place.

His longtime friend gave a short and simple reply. "I got it at the festival. You know, the goldfish scooping game."

"Why did you play it?" the shorter male continued to question. "You would have to keep the goldfish if you did; which you did."

Kagami had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "Well, there was this kid taunting me that I couldn't do it..." he trailed off.

When faced with Kagami's sheepish look, the teal-haired man resisted the urge to facepalm. Instead, he decided to change the topic and asked in exasperation, "So, how can a fish be suicidal? Maybe slightly... 'stupid', as you've said," he said slowly, catching a glimpse of a glare from the goldfish. Okay, maybe he was the one who was crazy, imagining goldfishes could glare. If looks could kill, maybe the glare would've caused him to explode spontaneously into flames. "But I don't think that's the issue here. Did you provoke it, by any chance? It only became aggressive when you called it stupid."

Kagami snorted in response and laughed. "Can fishes understand human language?"

 _Again_ , thought Kuroko as he observed the goldfish that had its attention on Kagami. _It will give a slight glare-like look to the offender._

However, Kuroko had a thoughtful expression before answering, to humor himself and his friend, "Maybe the fish is magical and if you offend it any more, it'll kill you in your sleep." He gave a joke-like answer, but said in a serious tone in his deadpan voice and blank look. He may not be good at jokes, but he did fancy himself having a sarcastic sense of humor.

The goldfish looked amused and seemed to agree wholeheartedly, judging by the way it was swimming gracefully in the transparent bag of water, the water swirling like a calm sea and the aggressive behavior completely gone.

"If fishes could kill," Kagami gave a playful answer of his own, his mouth twitched upwards slightly to form a grin, "the entire human race is definitely doomed."

The goldfish swam a little higher until it reached the surface of the water, to see Kagami's face, giving the aura of 'now-you-finally-realize' directed at the tall Japanese man.

Of course, Kagami didn't noticed while Kuroko inwardly wondered if he was reading into the situation a little too much. He wasn't even sure if goldfishes could be this expressive. Maybe he was mad, that explanation worked fine.

Kagami cleared his throat before saying, "Ahem. Anyways, can you keep this fish? I don't think I'll get along with it and I'm a terrible pet owner."

Kuroko shrugged. He wasn't sure if he should take the offer, since he already had Nigou for a pet and he wasn't looking for a new one at this time. Sure, a goldfish wasn't too much trouble because all you needed was water, fish food, a fishbowl and cleaning once every two to three weeks, so it wasn't too bad.

But to take in a pet that he didn't even plan to have...

It was kind of cruel and unfair—

"I'll buy you Maji's vanilla shakes for a week straight." Kagami offered, hoping to seal the deal because he knew Kuroko would never turn down an offer like this. It was kind of underhanded and foul play, but fair's fair.

Kagami waited for the teal-haired male's reply.

Kuroko abandoned previous sentiments about how 'cruel and unfair' it was to take in a pet he didn't want. He wasn't going to pass up on a once in a lifetime offer like this.

"Make that two and a half weeks, Kagami-kun." He bargained.

The fiery redhead grumbled under his breath, something about 'offering too soon' and 'broke'. Kuroko shook his head at the redhead's antics, it was his fault for offering and Kuroko was going to milk it for all its worth.

"Fine, fine!" Kagami agreed with an frustrated huff. He shot a grumpy scowl at the goldfish before handing it to Kuroko. "Can't believe I made you keep a fish by wastin' money that's worth more than this dumb fish."

Kuroko gave a miniscule smile at his friend's actions before taking the water-filled bag.

He didn't notice the red goldfish's assessing look that was directed at him.

.

.

The whole evening was spent on shopping for fish supplies like a proper fishbowl ( _"Kagami-kun, can I have your fishbowl?" Kuroko asked Kagami because he remembered the redhead saying he put it into a fishbowl, but his expectations were shot down when Kagami gave a sheepish look and said, "Actually, it was a makeshift fishbowl and it was an old glass jar..." he trailed off. Kuroko still held back the urge to facepalm. No wonder the fish tried to 'jump' out. Obviously it didn't want a degrading home._ ), fish food (again, expectations went into the drain when Kagami said he didn't buy any), sand for the fishbowl (like a terrain?) and a few decorations like (fake) large pearls, bright red marbles and strangely enough, a small crown with red (also fake) rubies.

_"On the house, kid." The aquarium store clerk said with a hearty laugh._

_"Why?" Kuroko asked suspiciously. There wasn't any promotions or freebies going on at the moment, so why?_

_"Well, this may sound strange to anyone, but," the clerk said and stopped dramatically, his eyes darting left and right to see if anyone was near, which was no one and then his voice was low like a conspiring whisper, "I can read fishes."_

_Kuroko was felt perplexed at the man's claim. He couldn't help but let out an unintelligent "Uhm, what?" because he couldn't comprehend the notion of being able to read fishes._

_"I don't expect you to believe it," the man said in a rather patient way and disregarded the fact that he might've potentially scared a customer away but Kuroko remained unfazed. "But your goldfish regards itself — or is it himself? — in a kingly way, kinda like it's a higher being that everyone should bow down to." He stated happily._

_Kuroko, deciding he had enough weirdness for the day, did not question the man's input on his newly-acquired goldfish's personality, nor did he question why the clerk seemed to see the goldfish as a male (because Kuroko didn't really care about a fish's gender and he didn't feel like finding out), so the most logical course of action was nodding. "Okay, clerk-san, I'll... take what you said into consideration." he said as he took the bag of bought fish care items and left._

Kuroko shook his head at the memory, juggled the things he was holding with one hand (saying a soft 'sorry' when he almost dropped the plastic bag that had the goldfish in it, which then made him ask himself why did he just apologized to a fish) and used his free hand to fish out the key to his apartment.

When he took it out of his pocket, he inserted the key into the keyhole, turning it clockwise to unlock it. It unlocked with a click and he turned the doorknob clockwise, taking back the key and putting it back into his pocket.

He went inside the apartment and locked the door behind him, so strange wouldn't have an ideas about entering without permission and set all the things on the shoe cabinet that was at the side and took of his shoes. Once he finished rolling his socks together (because he wasn't a messy person who liked to leave their things in a catastrophic mess), he took the two plastic bags and went into the living room, placing the bags on the coffee table.

Dog ears twitched from the noises and it stood up from its sleeping position to trot out of the kitchen and greet his owner.

"Woof! Woof!" the small black and white dog with sky blue eyes that matched with his owner's own pair, barked happily while his tail wagged to show it was pleased that his master came back.

Kuroko turned to the source of the barking and crouched down to pat his dog on the head.

The dog, Nigou, shot a questioning look to the items on the table but after staring at them, it walked to sofa, jumped and landed on it to sit there because it knew his owner was busy, so it decided not to bother him.

Kuroko smiled fondly. Nigou was very obedient and understanding.

Turning his attention back to the table, he took out all of the items out of the plastic bag while he left the goldfish to its own devices, he took the fishbowl (which wasn't too expensive and the design was nice and simple, the top of the bowl was like carefully molded waves and frills, so it suited him just fine), he washed the bowl in the kitchen because it was slightly dusty and returned to the living room and set the bowl on the coffee table.

Stretching a little, he went back to work to set the fishbowl while the goldfish watched with a curious gaze.

It didn't take too long for him to set up the fishbowl and adding the decorations, so when he was finished, he took the plastic bag that had the goldfish, opened it and lifted it over the bowl to pour the fish and water in, because he was not scooping the fish into the fishbowl since it was obviously not a good idea.

When both fish and water was safely moved into the container, the red goldfish swam around, as if testing its new home and Kuroko couldn't help but talk to it, even if it seemed ridiculous.

"I hope you like it." he said to the goldfish that stared at him. He felt the silence from the goldfish was questioning his sanity because he was currently talking to a fish but obviously, his mind was just giving strange ideas due to the fact that fishes couldn't talk anyways.

The goldfish, breaking the gaze, swam around in content to show it was much more satisfied being in the fishbowl than the plastic bag and the old jar.

Kuroko took it as a sign of happiness and left it after he pushed the fishbowl to the front, so it was at the middle rather than the side of the table.

It was time for him to eat dinner and feed Nigou.

Dinner was a quiet affair since he didn't live with anyone. The only sounds he could hear was Nigou munching his dog food and soft swishes of water.

After he finished his dinner, he washed the plates and left them to dry on the plate rack and dried his wet hands.

He watched television for a while, flickering between channels to see if anything was interesting to watch and to his disappointment, found none. Though there was a documentary on poisonous mushrooms, he skipped it to the news channel after half an hour because he needed to catch up on the late night news to see if anything was going on.

There was nothing much to say about the day, save for a measly robbery attempt, the rise of some mysterious underground cult and the increase of taxes, etcetera.

Yawning and looking at the clock see time, which was showing that it was already midnight. 12am was established bedtime for one Kuroko Tetsuya, with the reason being sleeping at 1am and beyond unhealthy, so he got up from the sofa and turned off all the electrical appliances (wasting electricity was bad and adding more to what he had to pay every month). Once he was done, he bid a goodnight to his new goldfish (which confused him again) and went into his bedroom with Nigou trotting behind him.

Kuroko did not notice the sudden stillness in the goldfish and the look that was directed at his retreating figure.

.

.

Plip plop.

Water dripping.

Plip plop.

A thunk.

Thumps.

A sound akin to glass edges rolling.

Silence.

Pitter pattering footsteps.

Light but not unheard.

Kuroko tossed and turned, ignoring the feeling of impending doom.

Strangely, he didn't feel like waking up tomorrow.

.

.

However, Kuroko did wake up because his alarm beeped very loudly and obnoxiously. He got off his bed, did regular things that he needed to do in the morning, like a quick shower, brushing his teeth, washing his face — a normal routine.

So, obviously, after getting dressed in casual clothes fit to be worn in his own home only, he didn't expect to see a slightly wet rug (the rug that was located under the coffee table), droplets of water on the wooden floor (dried, but it left marks because the wood was of cheap quality that wasn't durable to water) and looking at the coffee table...

The fishbowl was wet on the outside, decorations inside looked like they were arranged by a destructive tornado (Kuroko remembered placing them neatly), only half-filled with water and the most important thing.

The goldfish was missing.

Kuroko scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to think up of a logical explanation on why the goldfish was missing but pinched the bridge of his nose instead. "I didn't think the goldfish was actually capable of leaping out of the water..."

Was it as suicidal as Kagami said?

 _But if it leapt out_ , a nagging voice at the back of his mind spoke, _then where is the goldfish? Or more importantly, why are there water droplets leading to the extra room?_

Kuroko cursed at the voice for making him curious and igniting his desire to find out why even further because he didn't feel like impersonating Sherlock Holmes in his own home when he was supposed to relax on a day-off.

Walking along while following the trail, he wondered why there trail of water continued further because even if the goldfish managed to leap out of its container and flip-flopped several meters across, it would've died from the lack of water, stopping the trail by now. But there was no goldfish in sight and he was no where near the end of it.

Seeing that the trail ended in front of the extra room, the room used for guests (but he never had any guests besides Kagami and even then, Kagami slept on the couch at the living room because he didn't like Japanese mattresses which were futons and Kuroko wasn't going to waste money to buy a bed he would only use once in a blue moon), he turned the doorknob clockwise (it's wet as well, he noted) and entered the room.

The extra room was practically empty, save for the few tape-sealed cardboard boxes that never breathed the air in the apartment as a result of a very busy-slash-forgetful Kuroko that neglected to open and unpack the contents, two wooden bookshelves that contained his half of his entire book collection (the other half was in his own room), a built-in closet that contained all the extra blankets, pillows, bedsheets and pillow covers. Apart from that, the room mainly comprised of an infinite amount of dust that was piling up in the room thanks to the fact that the writer never cleaned the room.

Nothing in the guest room seemed out of place, except...

The bathroom door was opened for the world to see and in the bathroom, there was a handsome red haired man in the bathtub that was obviously naked to anyone with a pair of eyes and a fully-functional brain.

Kuroko stared.

The nameless red haired man, noticing the stare based on the way his shoulders tensed to show his discomfort, turned to Kuroko to return a stare of his own and raised an eyebrow to assess the supposed stranger (though for Kuroko, the roles were reversed). His heterochromatic eyes, red and gold, then lit up, showing an extent of recognition after identifying Kuroko and smiled charmingly.

Needless to say, that smile was not working on a very confused and alarmed Kuroko.

.

.

" _Who are you?_ "

 


	2. an afternoon of introductions

* * *

"That is a rather vague question." replied the man with a hint of amusement laced in his reply and it was not lost on Kuroko as it only served to astonish him more and made him question why the heck was there a naked man in his bathtub and where the goldfish was (well, the goldfish wasn't really important when you have a naked stranger in your home that may or may not be dangerous).

Since the man was in Kuroko's field of vision, he couldn't help but note the details of the red haired man's most prominent features; heterochromatic eyes of crimson and gold.

It wasn't like he was staring, per say, nor was he 'ogling' at the naked man, but he couldn't help but do so because he was trying to observe any miniscule movements that showed signs of attacking or sudden aggression; honest. It was also rare for a person to have two eye colors, especially with colors like red and gold. Normally, two different colors were either due to a birth defect or an eye transplant that was not of the same color with the original.

_"It is what people call a 'beautiful flaw'." Kuroko remembers his middle school friend and fellow library committee member, Midorima's usual short lectures about anything related to health, which was the green-haired man's definition of 'casual talk' (unless it involved Oha-Asa, which Kuroko avoided the topic with the strong persistence akin to a violent allergic reaction) when they meet up for coffee once a week or two at Takao's — Midorima's high school classmate and closest friend plus Kuroko's good friend that didn't treat him like he 'wasn't there' because Takao noticed him more than an average person could do so in three lifetimes — coffee shop._

_That time, it was about color genetics. "Like how people find dimples attractive but they are, in fact, just a flaw found on five out of a hundred faces."_

_After Midorima completed his impromptu lecture, Takao decided to join in. "I have no idea how you managed to listen to Shin-chan's rambling without losing it, Tet-chan. In high-school, when he started doing this to me because he had no friends besides me," which made him receive an annoyed exasperated look from Midorima and caused an amused glint in Kuroko's eyes, "I fell asleep so fast that could put a sloth to shame. In retaliation, he made me hunt for his horoscope crap for three damn weeks! It was torture!" the black haired male laughed so hard at his retelling of what transpired in their high-school years that you could see tears forming at the corner of his eyes._

_Midorima scolded Takao for not listening to him in the first place or else he wouldn't be in that mess (completely ignoring the fact that he called Midorima's passion for horoscopes 'crap' simple due to the fact that they've been friends so long that he knows it would be a waste of time and breath to correct Takao when he would say it again) while Kuroko had a small smile forming on his face._

The cyan-haired male snapped out of his train of thoughts when he knew he had to get back to the matter at hand. The (sadly still) naked man stared at him like he was eying the most interesting toy in the world while waiting for Kuroko's answer patiently. Even though he had every right to kick this (handsome and naked) stranger out of his home, he needed to solve the mystery of how the stranger got into his home without being caught by the residents of his apartment or the landlord and without alerting the alarm.

Kuroko shoved his frustration into the depths of his heart, almost heaving a sigh in the process but stopped himself because doing so wouldn't change anything and schooled his face into the perfect blank expression that would make professional poker players seethe in envy. "I am sure that the question 'who are you' is a rather obvious than vague question, is that not so?"

The stranger chuckled in response at Kuroko's well masked irritation — not hidden enough to escape his eyes, however — before giving an answer of his own. "Well, 'who are you' is a vague question because while it is asking my identity, I am unsure to answer with which because each answer is a fragment of my identity. Isn't it just troublesome to answer with all when I can answer something that will satisfy you?"

Finally, Kuroko just gave in the temptation to sigh, as it was obviously better than complaining to a nonexistent entity of the unfairness of it all and such that most people seem to be doing nowadays. This just earned another breathy chuckle which made Kuroko debate the choices of whether it was annoying (he didn't know how someone could chuckle so many times in a row without choking on his own saliva), if it was an appealing charm (he couldn't lie about it since he did find it slightly captivating — only slightly, he told himself) or if he should feel that it was normal quirk (obviously the sanest choice so far).

Without doubt, starting the day by doing a bad rendition of a detective, finding a nude person in his bathtub and said nude person was conversing with him without a shred of shame or finding the strangeness of the situation was not how he imagined to spend his day off.

"Then let me rephrase my previous question into something more... specific that matches my satisfaction," amended Kuroko, not even having an urge to give a sarcastic comment, simply because he felt tired by the turn of events. Anyone would feel tired of having to deal with waking up, finding one of your legless pets missing and finding a naked stranger in the process.

"What is your name?" At least that question will satisfy him temporarily even if Kuroko wouldn't recognize the unknown man's name.

"Akashi Seijuuro." the stranger — apparently now Akashi-kun to Kuroko, not '-san' because they looked around the same age — answered back with a polite smile gracing his features. "Now, that wasn't so hard to change your question, was it? I know it is overwhelming to have a stranger in your humble abode and I /completely/ understand your disorientation to this but I assure you, I am not a stranger because we've met yesterday."

With the last comment spoken, befuddlement and brief stupefaction met with one Kuroko Tetsuya again. "Pardon me?" He asked while raising an elegant eyebrow to emphasize his question.

"We've met yesterday." said Akashi like it was no big deal but it was a really big deal when Kuroko was sure he had never met or seen a man with such pronounced features; namely the color of his eyes.

"I don't remember meeting anyone with hair and eyes like yours and I'm not a forgetful person either." Kuroko countered Akashi's claim calmly. The teal-haired man had doubts whether this was some sort of new pick-up line or they had really met before. "The only person I know with red hair is Kagami-kun and his hair is several shades darker and with streaks at the tips, so you're definitely not his brother or cousin."

At the mention of Kagami, Akashi's aristocratic face turned into a sneer. "I suppose you're not forgetful but I'll have you know that I am in no way related to such an unintelligent and barbaric brute."

The teal-haired male frowned at Akashi's offending tone. He wasn't the type to lash out in a hysterical raging fit on anyone who dared to slur him or his friends, so he compromised by being unruffled, polite and straight to the point. "I am not sure what Kagami-kun has done to offend you for you to say such degrading things about him but please don't do so. It is hurtful and mean."

Akashi's tense posture relaxed before his sneer dissolved into a smirk with a refutation ready. "But it is rather _hurtful_ and _mean_ that you don't remember me. On second thought, I can't exactly _place the blame on you_ , Kuroko, _can I_?"

At the utterance of his name, Kuroko stiffened in response because he didn't know how Akashi knew his name. Akashi had claimed — with the amount of confidence in his claim similar to the size if Mt Fuji — that they had met just yesterday but to be honest, he didn't know him at all. "How did you know my name?" Kuroko asked, not with resentment or the perturbation he had seemingly gotten used to but it was all plain curiosity.

"I'll give you a hint," the redhead gave a sly look directed at Kuroko. His expression clearly shows he was having fun toying with the blue-haired male and he wasn't going to give a blunt answer anytime soon.

"When we met yesterday, you told that... unintelligent friend of yours that I might be 'magical' and might kill him in his sleep if I am offended any longer." Akashi spoke before continuing thoughtfully, "As alluring as that idea sounds, I will only do it if you allow me to because even if his very existence is nothing but a speck of insignificant dust under my feet, it is only common courtesy to take your opinions into consideration."

Again, Kuroko froze in his spot, unable to wrap around his head around Akashi's given clue to the seemingly unsolved mystery. He was very sure that no one was around him and Kagami yesterday and even if there were others, they should've been unable to hear their conversation and Kuroko would've noticed another redhead in the area. So, he didn't understand why this unknown man claimed that they had met.

A light chortle broke Kuroko's train of thought and physical frown. Kuroko turned his head to the direction of the laughter so fast that he should have had a whiplash.

This mocking laughter made the blue-haired man give the evil eye aimed at the smirking male. "What is it that is so humorous to you?"

Even if Kuroko's glare was on full power with as much disdain as he could convey physically, Akashi didn't falter and smirked even wider. In fact, it gave Akashi more of a reason to keep up with his smug grin. "I find it pleasing that you are a challenge to fluster and an enthralling delight."

"Are you teasing me?" Kuroko almost growled at the fact, as clear as daylight, that someone found it fascinating to waste his time and make him go in circles. "If so, please stop."

"Two other qualities about you that I adore," Akashi hummed in a pleasant tone. "You don't beat around the bush in your replies and you are down-to-earth honest. What joy, indeed."

Kuroko sighed in frustration. As much as he appreciated compliments, this wasn't the time for it. He gave up trying and wanted answers now. "Can you just please tell me how we met in what way or form?"

"Thank you for asking." the heterochromatic eyed male smiled. In that fleeting moment, Kuroko knew that he waited for this question. "I am the goldfish you received yesterday. To be precise, I am the goldfish you were finding for, but you found me in this form. Just so you know, I prefer this form more than that of a puny aquatic animal-"

Kuroko turned around, approached the door, stepped out of it and left the room.

The blue-haired man couldn't comprehend why he continued having a civil conversation with someone who was nude, who looked like he lived in a bathtub and was apparently, without a single shred of uncertainty, insane.

As rational and understanding of others' situations as he was, fish can't turn into humans. This was not a fairy-tale with a prince cursed to be an animal and is only able to remove the curse by a true love's kiss. That was just plagiarizing The Frog Prince and Kuroko disliked that fairy-tale very much.

But for now, he had to find proper clothing for Akashi.

.

.

Akashi, now clothed in a red polo tee and some jeans ( _"I think most of my clothes are one or two sizes smaller than yours and these were the only ones I found two sizes bigger. Please change before we talk." said Kuroko, putting down the neatly folded clothes onto the towel rack in the bathroom before leaving again to give some privacy. Kuroko needed to wipe the floorboards, replace the rug under the coffee table and fix the fishbowl._ ) sipped his green tea that was served to him out of common courtesy by Kuroko. The fact is clear that no matter how inane the idea of a fish turning into a human (not counting the Little Mermaid, because that's a mermaid) was to Kuroko, Akashi was still a guest. So, serving tea it is.

Both of them were in the living room and from an outsider's point of view, it looked like a normal scene whereas two acquaintances or friends were just meeting each other for a casual hangout and light conversation (how is work life, do you have a girlfriend, how is your family, that sort of thing) in one of their respective homes. However, that was not the case because both were complete strangers and they were going to talk about fish turning into a human, which was not, by all means, normal.

The two sat in silence, drinking their tea and basically, did not interact with one another at all.

Deciding that the awkward silence was enough and how obvious that the freelance writer wouldn't start a conversation anytime soon, Akashi made the first move to speak. "That was rather impolite of you, walking out when I deigned to speak in your uncouth presence."

The freelance writer was appalled at the idea of himself being uncouth. He prided himself being a calm, well-mannered and sensible person. He was anything but uncouth. His parents (although not there all the time because they had business trips or hardly noticed his presence) had taught him better than that. "Please do not call me uncouth. Anyone would walk out of a situation that ridiculous."

Akashi narrowed his eyes. "Well, in a manner of speaking, it isn't so ridiculous when it is the truth I speak of. It is more ridiculous, or more accurately, immature, that you choose to be ignorant of it and blame your rudeness on human reactions."

Kuroko did find it a reasonable validity once Akashi said those words. He didn't want to be an rude, ignorant fool, but anybody would find it strange to deal with. It was time he played the 'what if' game. "Fine then. Say I do believe in your... claim. How did you turn into a fish in the first place?" Even if originally Akashi could not turn into a fish, it must have started from somewhere.

Akashi gave a miniscule look of hesitation, but it was visible to Kuroko because his hobby is human observation, making Kuroko wonder what would make himself hesitate like that in the process before Akashi cleared his throat to get Kuroko's full attention. "Long story short, as I don't want to make a story of how I have been degraded to a form of a fish, a fellow... well, you could say one of my acquaintances, turned me into a goldfish." Again, if Kuroko did not have the hobby of human observation, he would not notice the brief flash of disgruntled embarrassment on Akashi's face.

Kuroko continued questioning. His curiosity was not sated just yet. "How is that possible?"

"I'm afraid I have no place to tell you about how it worked," responded Akashi, who looked like he was unfazed by what he said earlier. This time, he had an air of defensive behavior around him. It was suspicious, but Kuroko wouldn't question it, since it didn't sound like a possible danger just yet. "It is quite sensitive and confidential information. But all I can say is that it is the work of a terribly skilled person in her field who base the course of her actions on her emotions. I knew I shouldn't have crossed her, but it happened anyway and I rather not dwell on the past."

 _So it was a girl who did this_ , thought Kuroko. _But who would be able to physically compress the body mass of a male human being into the size of a ping pong ball and into another species without killing them? I need to ask Midorima-kun later,_ He thought to himself as he tucked the information away for later use and made a mental reminder to call Midorima.

The petite male wanted to ask who 'she' was, but based on how defensive Akashi was being on that particular set of information, he settled for something he could make use of now. "How and when will you turn into a goldfish or a human? Is there some sort of trigger, catalyst, side effect or timing?"

Kuroko noticed that Akashi had a slight frown etched on his face when he mentioned 'human', but didn't comment on it.

"Thankfully, I can transform into a fish or... _human_ form whenever I want." said Akashi as he placed his cup down onto the coffee table. The fishbowl looked as good as new, only that it was missing the main component, a goldfish, but it was currently sitting across the owner. When Akashi was changing, Kuroko finished wiping the residue water left on the wooden floor, changed the floor rug into a new one and fixed the fishbowl by rearranging the decorations and filling it with water. "I can stay in either form for half a day. However, once I switch from fish to... _human_ or vice versa, I am stuck like that until half a day passes."

Kuroko nodded slightly to show he was listening.

"Also, there are no catalysts for this curse." the handsome red-haired man stared at the fishbowl while he said that and closed his eyes. "So far, I haven't faced any side effects but if I am tired, I transform into the weaker form much faster."

"I see." the blue-haired man maintained his apathetic facade, though he was inwardly wondering why Akashi suddenly closed his eyes.

His question was answered when Akashi fell onto the couch sideways, foreign markings sprawled across his neck that continued from his torso like snakes winding around their prey and glowing in a rather eerie shade of purple similar to the common color for poison. When it stopped glowing for a moment, the room flashed so brightly until Kuroko had to cover his eyes to minimize any sight damage.

Once the flash of light stopped, Akashi disappeared and in his place was the shirt and pants he wore earlier and there was something breathing under the shirt.

.

.

Once Kuroko realized what just happened and what Akashi currently was, which was an animal that was unable to breathe air, he scrambled forward to take the goldfish out of the red shirt to scoop it up and put it back into the water where it belonged in that form.

He couldn't help but wonder why Akashi seemed so uncomfortable saying, or to be more precise, referring himself as human.


	3. string it all together

* * *

In a fit of annoyance at messiness in general, Kuroko started to methodically clean his apartment. He wiped the water droplets off the floor (though he did it again only because he felt irked at the fact that the wood already absorbed most of it and left ugly, splotchy dark marks, which also made him feel slightly exasperated at the obvious unevenness of it), took the clothes he lent to Akashi and shoved them into the washing machine (he was not re-wearing clothes that was already previously worn by another), rearranged the cutlery and cooking utensils in his kitchen to ease his nerves and dusted every nook and cranny of his living room twice. It was tiring, but at least it took his mind off from certain... things.

 _You mean the goldfish in your living room_ , his mind sneers at him with flippant mockery. _You can't stand the fact that he can switch between fish and human, can you?_

Somehow, he replies back, even though it's pointless to talk to oneself. Though it might as well could be the madness of an early morning settling in.

 _Magic doesn't exist_ , he says calmly. Honestly, he has no idea why he was even doing this, but he continued anyways. _If it did, we would be having flying brooms and whatnot._

 _But doesn't it seem awfully suspicious_ , the voice in his head laughs and it's kind of funny to hear it do so, since it sounded like him and Kuroko, for all the years he has been living, did not laugh. _That Akashi-kun, although so human-like, refers to humans as if it's a subspecies not worth licking his feet? I rather doubt he's human._

This time, Kuroko doesn't reply and shuts out the smug voice from his mind. He didn't want to waste five minutes talking to himself and arguing while he was at it. He done it too many times when it came to his work (because a good editor was hard to find, so he resorted to himself) and by extension, his novel deadlines. Somehow, he wished Kagami was here to help him with the problem, as the redhead seemed to have a remedy for everything ( _"Idiots solve things faster, since they don't calculate their way through." says Takao with a grin._ ). Then again, if Kagami was here, he would've laughed it off and told Kuroko to tell the voice to "shove it", which was even more ridiculous than conversing with oneself ( _"Don't expect it to be a smart move though." he hears Takao's voice again, continuing his previous words._ ).

"Arf, arf!" Nigou barks while trotting over to his master and wagging his tail happily. Kuroko bends down to ruffle the dog's fur affectionately, making Nigou wag his tail even faster. He was pleased that his master responded to his actions. He then tugged Kuroko's sleeve, pulling him to the direction to the door.

Kuroko's eyes lit up, knowing what his dog wants. "Ah, Nigou wants a walk." He says aloud, and the idea wasn't too bad, since he needed a walk to clear up his mind and make a few stops to get some things.

The teal haired male gently pushing the dog away from him, so he could grab the dog collar. It wouldn't do if Nigou got lost, no matter how smart he was. Kuroko walked away to grab the collar that was placed under the counter (who knows why it was there) and took it. Again, Nigou barked a few times, happy that his master agreed with him. He let the collar be put on him without a fuss as he sat down on the floor without squirming.

Once he was done, Kuroko opened the door, with Nigou at his side and left the apartment.

He was sure a goldfish could at least be on it's own for a few hours without causing any trouble. Kuroko crossed his fingers on that.

.

.

At the market, with a few bags of fresh vegetables, household items and pork in tow, Kuroko and Nigou passed by the fish stands and they couldn't help but scrunch up their noses in disgust. For Kuroko, it was because he no longer had the appetite to eat fish (seeing as his new roommate was technically a fish, although an inedible one) since he didn't want to stomach the idea of committing indirect cannibalism. Who knows, maybe one or two fishes out of the three hundred ones there were actually magical and Kuroko didn't want to take chances. As for Nigou, he did not like the foul stench of fish and blood.

They had no choice but to go through the stands, as it was the only way to get to the stands that sold candy, as he ran out of them thanks to the kids he sometimes babysit, a vase for Kagami and a particular type of coffee he had to get for Takao as a favor. Finally making a left turn, he left the fish section and made it safely (without barfing) to his self appointed destination.

Just his luck that he bumped into a wall... that breathed and moved?

"Wha- Tet-chan?" Oh, turns out it wasn't a wall at all, but a friend of his. Recognizing the voice, Kuroko looked up, cursing mentally at his stature befitting a first year high school student instead of an adult, facing Takao, who was blinking owlishly. Nigou didn't notice the confusion that hung in the air and barked excitedly at the man.

Takao snapped out of his stupor and grinned at the cheery dog.

"Oh, hello to Nigou too." he greeted Kuroko's pet like a person would to a friend, which no one would would usually do; prime examples being Kagami, who ran away at the sight of dogs, Midorima ignoring Nigou's presence while other friends usually cooed at the dog's cuteness and became too overly affectionate with their pats and whatnot.

The black haired man turned his attention away from the dog and focused on Kuroko. He smiled widely, showing his pearly white teeth. "So, what's up, Tet-chan? Lookin' for groceries?" he asked curiously, noticing the bags of bought items in Kuroko's hands. They seemed to be very heavy and the shorter male looked like he was struggling to keep himself upright and not let everything spill onto the ground.

"Need any help?" Takao offered, putting his hand out.

Kuroko shook his head. "No thank you, but I appreciate your offer." he replied back, holding the plastic bags more securely. He wasn't weak, mind you. "I was actually on my way to buy some things, including your coffee."

The coffee shop owner had the expression befitting a young child being caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. He rubbed the back of his neck and fumbled out, "Er, that's really nice of you, but I already... you see, I, uh, already bought it." He answered, hoping to not have offended his long-time friend since high school. Takao was flattered that Kuroko remembered to buy it for him, but seeing he had free time, he didn't want waste it on watching Korean dramas and got out of his house instead. Damn, those cliche romance ones were addictive like nicotine.

"Oh, really?" Well, that was one less thing to buy. Now there were only candies and a vase to buy. "I see, then. Good for you." he said monotonously.

Mistaking the monotone for something along the lines of sinister and vexation, though often as it was hard to tell when it came to Kuroko, Takao quickly attempted to redeem himself.

"Uhm, anyways!" he said abruptly, making Kuroko stagger (definitely not flinch) at the loudness of his friend's voice. He put his hand into his pants pocket to dig something out and handed it to Kuroko, "Here, discount tickets for books at the Kinoyama Bookshop!" who took it with a baffled (or as baffled as he can be) look.

Kuroko stared at the tickets shoved into his hands, while being confused by the act of spontaneous kindness, but accepted it anyways. He could do with discounts, especially when he hadn't receive his paycheck yet for the month and the fact that Kinoyama was his personal heaven.

"Thanks." he said, bowing slightly but not too low.

Takao blushed in embarrassment. The barista was much more accustomed to quick thank yous instead of genuine, modest ones.

"Let's go then!" said Takao with a grin as he grabbed Kuroko and dragged him towards the market's exit.

"Wai-"

Too bad Kuroko had no say in it. Nigou just followed obediently, waging his tail like usual.

.

.

The Kinoyama Bookshop on the other side of the town was a very huge bookshop up to three floors. It was actually the biggest bookshop in town and sold books that many people had to drive to the main city to get it, until the bookshop itself was built five years ago.

The reason for its success, however, was not the books it sold or its size, but its spectacular design, which was a collaboration of a popular architect and a veteran interior designer. Despite it having "bookshop" in its name, that wasn't _just_ what it was. The bookshop itself had three "parts" in its design; the bookshop, the library and a mini garden cafe, divided by floors.

The bookshop part is on the first floor and it is where books are sold and bought daily. The books were always systematically arranged in bookshelves by the workers to maintain perfect order. It wouldn't do if a customer found a horror novel in the romance bookshelf or worse, an adult literary work in midst of children picture books.

Next on the second floor was the library that had an assortment of genres to be borrowed, all separated and cataloged into beautiful ebony bookshelves that reached the ceiling. It was also filled with nice hardwood tables, chairs with detachable cushions, couches made of the finest leather and dainty wall lamps shaped like tulips. Many people seeking silence and refuge from the noisy real world would be found here, reading a good book and enjoying a fictional world.

On the third and last floor was the garden cafe. It was designed with the motif of "dining with nature", thus decorated with a variety of flowers (be it growing from the walls, part of the walkway or in glass pots on the tables), green floor carpet tiles and furniture painted to resemble the texture of trees. The owner, who commissioned the collaboration in the first place, even went as far as to make the cafe's workers wear flower-motif clothing, so the female workers wore simple green trapeze dresses with flower crowns while male workers wore a simple button up shirt decorated with a single flower in its pocket with green dress pants. The best part about it was the roof that was made of glass to allow sunlight get through from morning to mid-evening and making watching stars easier at night.

While Kuroko wanted to stay in the library, he would waste hours being in there and worse case scenario, stay until night came, which was a bad idea. Nigou (which, along with his groceries, had been taken by Takao who decided to give Kuroko some time alone and offered to take care of everything else for him as goodwill) and by extension, Akashi was waiting for him at home, so he had to set his priorities straight. His temptations could wait, a pet and a roommate cannot. That was how unfair life was.

Besides, he had to use the discount tickets and it was a good thing that it was time for him to buy new reference books for his novels and side research projects. Kuroko, for the life of him, could never get used to searching up facts on the internet. Sure, he used his laptop to type out his novel (saving countless of trees in the process from a frustrated Kuroko), but he hated the idea of data stored digitally. What he hated even more was a page being deleted after he bookmarked them or Kagami _accidentally_ deleting the information he saved for future references _._ God knows how his best friend does that.

The writer already picked out what he needed, which was Into A Criminal's Mind, A Dark Labyrinth of the Unstable, a book on Chinese medicine/herbs, a book about assassination, poisonous mushrooms and weaponry. They would be his references for his next crime novel about a psychopath, twisted obsessions and bringing out a whole new meaning of "love".

So, the last thing he needed was a book about Asian folklore, particularly Japanese and Chinese.

The enigma named Akashi Seijuuro was indescribable and at the same time, unnerving, because Kuroko was not an avid believer of the supernatural nor was he superstitious. Actually, now that he thought about it, he often mocked the idea of the red string of fate between soul mates and cursing someone by writing their name in red, especially in his books, which was why most of his readers were cynical adults.

You would think after being friends with someone like Midorima, who could probably make a religion out of horoscopes, would change his mind, but Kuroko remained a faithful atheist. If there was a god, Kagami, who Kuroko believes that his family's religious background was Christian, would've been blessed to be less of an idiot at birth. Takao would agree with Kuroko too about the blessing part.

Scanning through the books disinterestedly, until he saw the one that caught his eye, he reached forward with his hand to grab it, until it collided (in a less chaotic way than it sounds) with another person's hand.

The person, a young woman, whose hand he touched, stopped in her tracks and turned to him. She look as if she was shocked by his appearance, which was nothing new, considering his low presence, but managed to reel it in by giving a wide, apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, did you want this book?" asked the woman, already retracting her hand. Kuroko noticed she wore very simple but trendy clothes, as her outfit consisted of a polka dotted button up, a light brown cardigan, a pair high-waisted black pants and a pair of black high heels. She slipped a few stray strands of her rosy hair into the back of her ear with her hand, looking slightly bashful about getting a book that another was already about to grab. "You can take it." she offered politely, going as far as to take the book and handing it to Kuroko.

"It's alright, since you reached for it first." Kuroko pushed the book back to the woman gently. "I can always buy it another time. I have most of what I want already." he amended aloud, glancing at the books stacked neatly in the shopping basket. Even though Kuroko wanted answers quickly or an idea to tackle a puzzle, he could part with a book. That was the last of its stock. For the month.

Yeah, all was good.

If anything, Kuroko's words made the woman blush and smile. She even seemed less nervous than before and much more open. "No need to be a gentleman! As they say; first come, first serve... uhmm, Mr ...?" she started to look bashful again, realizing that she had been conversing with a stranger and did not ask for his name at all. All she felt was that she was extremely rude to someone who was a potential new friend.

With practiced patience combined with his blank expression, he avoided an awkward atmosphere by answering professionally and unfazed. "I'm Kuroko. Kuroko Tetsuya. You are?" he gestured at her with his free hand.

"Ah, I'm Momoi Satsuki! It's nice to meet you." she introduced herself with a giggle. Kuroko was just glad he didn't scare her off by looking aloof. "Though just because I'm a woman doesn't mean you should treat me like a princess. I'm flattered but I prefer gender equality."

"Gender has nothing to do with my decision." Kuroko replied with a raised eyebrow. Sure, he was being a perfect gentleman, but he had always been modest and putting others before him. That was his nature and nothing would change that. He just hoped it didn't seem like he was being offending to her. "Besides, folklore isn't on my priorities. These are." He lifted his basket slightly to show Momoi the small stack he was planning to buy.

Momoi looked delighted by the mention of folklore. "Oh, I love folklore!" she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes sparkling brightly and its corners crinkled slightly. "In fact, I major in Asian folklore and minor in world history. I'm going to graduate in fall and become a folklore archivist or a historian." She looked extremely proud at this and Kuroko couldn't help but admire her passion for what she liked.

"That's wonderful." he commented genuinely. While Kuroko had no interest in anything mythical or dead, he could respect people who tried their best when it came to preserving a part of culture or are interested in learning it. "That means Momoi-san knows a lot, right?"

"That's right!" Momoi looked outright ecstatic that someone wanted to ask her something related to folklore. Her knowledge concerning the topic was something she always took pride in. "What's is it that you want to ask?"

How would he phrase it? Kuroko wondered in his mind. It wouldn't do if he said it like, "Oh hey, I have a roommate who can transform into fish and human and I don't know what to do, help please". That was an extremely terrible and idiotic idea.

Maybe he would ask under the guise of writing a novel. That would work. Who would question an author trying to write the supernatural genre?

Kuroko coughed awkwardly. "Well, the editor at the company I'm working for," he lied smoothly, because he had no editor, only a beta-reader, "Had suggested that I should try writing a different genre, so he said maybe supernatural would do me good. I'm an author, by the way." he cleared up any confusion hanging in the air. Momoi nodded, signalling him to continue.

"But I have no specific idea on what to write, so he suggested that I write about someone that was cursed to transform into a fish in the morning and a human at night." said Kuroko. Momoi just looked thrilled that she met an author, although she didn't recognize his name, which she speculated he used a pen name. She would look him up later or just ask Kuroko himself. "But I don't like making things vague or making up facts about what already technically exists as knowledge, so is there such a creature that can transform into a fish and vice versa?"

The pink haired woman just contemplated with a thoughtful expression. To Kuroko's unseen disappointment, she shook her head.

"Not that I know of, no." said Momoi, who was trying to remember something. "But I did remember reading about a male water spirit of Slavic origin. He is viewed to be particularly evil, existing almost exclusively to drown swimmers who have angered him by their, uhm, 'boldness', which I'm not sure what it means. His appearances vary, since some tales define him as a naked old man, bloated and hairy, covered in slime, covered in scales, or as an old peasant with a red shirt and beard. What you might want to know, is that he has the ability to transform into a fish. Or so the text I recall reading says." she recounted cheerfully.

Kuroko cringed at the description of its appearances that were pretty unsightly according to his imagination, especially the first one. Akashi looked nothing like that and Kuroko was a hundred percent sure that he was completely Japanese. He could also attest that his mysterious roommate was exceptionally handsome, not that he would say it out loud.

"Sorry I can't be much of a help to you." she apologized frankly. "But I think you should just go ahead with writing the idea without sticking to facts. It's definitely an appealing and refreshing storyline. What others already know about can be boring." Momoi encouraged Kuroko with a light shoulder pat.

Too bad she didn't know that Kuroko wasn't writing about a story like that and had just hit a dead end in trying to solve a mystery.

"Oh, okay... then." Kuroko trailed off, unsure where to go from here. He ran out of icebreakers for conversations. Asking how is the weather right now would be pointless. Stupid as well. Don't forget it's stupidity at its finest.

Thankfully, they were interrupted by a gruff looking tanned man, who, Kuroko could tell judging by his light green apron and name tag, is a worker at the bookshop. He walked closer and Kuroko wasn't sure if his expression was normal or he had a bad day.

"Any problems here, Satsuki?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at Kuroko, who remained passive, until his eyes landed on the book that Momoi was holding. His face lit up in recognition. "Oh, you're pretty lucky, Satsuki, since that book is the last of its stock for the month."

"Oh, r-really?" she stuttered out, which confused the man while Kuroko inwardly praised himself for being right in his observation. She turned towards Kuroko, giving him the book. "You can have it, Kuroko-kun!"

Again, Kuroko pushed back the book to Momoi, who looked distressed at his kindness visibly by frowning. The worker just mumbled incoherently under his breath, like Kuroko and Momoi just tired him out. "Like I said, Momoi-san, you can have it. I don't expect you to do anything for me, so just take it."

Then, in a strange turn of events, Momoi jumped-hugged Kuroko, who froze in his spot. She rubbed his cheek against his continuously and Kuroko just remained confounded and clueless on how to react to this. No one did this to him before. Was this counted as being friendly or a rare case of female to male sexual harassment? He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and felt oxygen slowly leaving him.

"Dai-chan, I found an angel!" cried Momoi joyfully while looking at the worker, who just facepalmed at his friend's acts. "Tetsu-kun is a pure angel from the heavens!"

"Angel? Dai-chan? Tetsu-kun...?" Kuroko mumbled in a confused manner, still furrowing his eyebrows. The lack of oxygen made him feel dizzy, like he was on medications. "Momoi-san... c-can't breathe..."

"Oh!" the university student quickly let go of Kuroko, who finally had a chance to breathe. He evened out his breathing before he would get asthma. "I'm sorry, Tetsu-kun, but you're just precious." she declared, hugging Kuroko again but less tighter and constricting this time. It still felt the same to him, though.

Kuroko just adopted the look of a strangled cat, looking at the worker (Dai-chan?) with eyes pleading for help. The worker, finally noticing Kuroko's silent plea, just chuckled in a sort of gruff way, deciding to interfere.

"You're the first guy who doesn't seem to enjoy being suffocated by Satsuki's boobs." he said in a joking manner, which earned an indignant "hey!" from Momoi, freeing Kuroko in the process and earning a blank look from Kuroko. Who would like to be suffocated by someone's chest anyways? The thought itself was uncomfortable to Kuroko, who shuddered away from Momoi in fear. "So, 'nyways, name's Aomine Daiki. Satsuki's friend. You?" the newly named Aomine introduced himself, holding out his hand to Kuroko.

Kuroko shook Aomine's hand. "Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you, Aomine-san."

Aomine ruffled Kuroko's hair, which annoyed Kuroko. He felt so tiny compared to this... titan. It just didn't feel right to Kuroko, who was already a legal adult. "Nice ta meet'cha too. And no need to be so uptight with the speech and I don't like the _-san_ in my name. Seriously, not sure if you're a prude or you swing in the opposite direction... or are you just an embarrassed high school kid?" he teased, ruffling Kuroko's hair even more.

He didn't need to feel any more tiny about himself, so Kuroko, in a fit of exasperation, swatted Aomine's tanned hand away from his head. "I'm not in high school. I'm already twenty-three, Aomine- _kun_." he said in displeasure.

The tanned man went rigid, before bursting out in laughter. "You're kiddin', right?" Faced with Kuroko's serious stare of death, Aomine started to sweat bullets. "Serious?" Kuroko nodded.

"Holy shit! You're older than us by a year!"

"No swearing, Dai-chan!"

"Shhhh!"

A finger poked Kuroko's face.

"Did you use too much botox? Did you eat your vegetables? Sure you got enough calcium?"

"No. Yes. Yes."

"I heard sex can works wonders on youth-"

Momoi clearly had enough of her friend's antics. It was bad enough that she almost scared Kuroko away. Aomine would just be adding to the conversational damage she barely managed to fix. She sucked in breath to shout and held her hand up high in a fist to hit him in the face. "DAI-CHAN! NO MORE QUESTIONING!"

"Shhhh!"

Another worker came into their line of sight. He was sighing clearly. "Alright everyone, there's no problems here," he glimpsed at the second floor's customers who finally went back up, shooed his fellow workers away and insisted the customers that everything was alright. "Get back to work, Aomine. Never let me see you arguing with a customer." _Or else_ , he added silently and Aomine heard it clearly.

Aomine waved him off with his hand, sighing as well, as if he was the one who was being unnecessarily troubled. "Sure thing." It annoyed his nameles co-worker, but he didn't let it get under his skin, only walking back to the stock room to continue his job.

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding." Aomine rubs the back of his head, looking drained from being told off by his fellow employee and dealing with Momoi. "Geez, Satsuki. Learn to live a little."

Momoi pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously conveying discontentment. Kuroko barely stopped his mouth from twitching into a smile. These two were really good friends, he observed. "Don't make dirty jokes in front of Tetsu-kun. Just because he was born male doesn't mean he appreciates these jokes too, you know. He's a gentleman, unlike you." She harrumped slightly at the end of her words, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Pff, yeah, yeah, ruin my fun, Satsuki." Aomine only rolled his eyes at her apparent display of childishness and ignoring her last comment about him. It was best to let things be instead of making it worse by arguing. "What's up with you two fighting over a book anyways?" he pointed at the book which was still held by Momoi.

Remembering about the book, Momoi retold what had transpired before Aomine arrived like an impromptu short story. Kuroko idly thought that Momoi would make a good storyteller, the way she phrased it, did the hand gestures and such.

"Just take the damn book, Satsuki. You can just lend it to him." Aomine offered the solution in a bored tone.

It only served to make Momoi's eyes glitter with pure happiness as she, in an uncharacteristic way, went forth and clasped Aomine's hands in her own. "You're a genius, Dai-chan!" in which he replied, or muttered, "And here I thought I was supposed to be the dumb one."

"So anyways," she turned to Kuroko, who suddenly felt awkward. "I'll just buy it and like Dai-chan said, who can be a bit of a smarty pants at times, lend it to you! No worries about giving it back to me, since I'm working on my research paper on Korean folklore." she winked and when Kuroko made a move to ask about how he would return it to her, she stopped him. "We'll exchange numbers too!"

She tugged Aomine's sleeve and used her other free hand to make an open palm. Her friend only complained softly under his breath and dug his pocket to take out a piece of paper and a pen to hand it to her.

.

.

_"Take your time with the book to find what you need for your novel and just ring me up when you're done." said Momoi, handing him the piece of paper with her and Aomine's number and a smiley face at the end, written neatly in dark blue ink. "Let's hang out some time as well!"  
_

_"We'll be here most of the time, so you know where to look for us." continued Aomine, who stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned. Kuroko liked how bright it was. "Also, sorry about earlier. Just took me by surprise, 's all."_

Kuroko reopened his eyes to wake himself from his reminiscence. He felt truly glad that he had met such nice and lively people today and even became friends with them. Reaching up the stairs to his floor, he opened the little mail box with rusting hinges besides his door, knowing Takao placed his apartment keys there. He took it out and used it to unlock the door, crossing fingers in his mind (as his hands were busy carrying books and closing the door) that his longtime friend did not accidentally wreck the place and placed his groceries accordingly. He hated it when the fish and meat stank in the kitchen because it wasn't kept in the bottom freezer of his refrigerator.

He was inwardly rejoicing the clean and pristine state of his apartment and that nothing was out of place. The furniture were where they were supposed to be, Nigou was sleeping on the couch, there was a note pinned to his door that read " _I helped you with your stuff. -Takao_ ", all his groceries were kept in the refrigerator, the items he bought were laid neatly on the kitchen counter, there were no water splatters and most importantly, the fishbowl had no signs of being moved at all. Akashi was still sleeping, so there was no mess to clean.

Absolutely perfect.

He went into his room the place the books on his study table but took the book he borrowed from his new friend to read in the living room. Sitting on the couch woke Nigou, but he took a lazy glance at his master before going back to his rest. Kuroko flipped the pages idly, finding for something related to fishes or shape shifting.

What happened next shocked him and made him ask himself if he was fully awake or not.

The pages, as if gaining a life of its own, flipped itself hurriedly back and forth, like it was looking for something, until it landed to the front of the book, where the author's biodata was supposed to be and rearranged the words to form a sentence at the bottom where there was empty space.

The words were glowing in an eerie shade of purple, similar to the marks he witnessed curling itself around Akashi's neck earlier, aligned neatly:

_**You won't find the answer here.** _

.

.

Kuroko shut the book tight with an audible snap without a second thought and became really nervous.

He still stubbornly refused to believe anything related to the supernatural.


	4. the purple mist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, take this before I go- *drowns in add maths homework*

* * *

It was surprising that the loud thump of the book being snapped closed didn't wake Akashi up, since Kuroko pegged him as a light sleeper who would be disturbed from their rest at the slightest noise. No matter, Kuroko had one less problem to deal with and he couldn't help but shudder at the fact that he has already come in contact with anything related to the supernatural to last his lifetime.

If one couldn't tell, Kuroko did not want to have any of these experiences anymore. It was getting increasingly laughable and the notion of a "spirit" or "ghost" was absolutely insane to someone like the blue haired writer. Maybe it was an influence from his friend, Midorima, who is a firm believer of science and apparently, horoscopes (who deemed it as a scientific study, one of the earliest made by mankind), as well as being one of the best and youngest surgeons to ever grace the medical world. His disbelief also came from having a distant relative, an aunt related by a cousin's marriage, who had lost herself in the world of occult and being in a cult had resulted in her descent to madness and murder.

But, did all that matter? After all, he just saw it happen right before his eyes, right? That counted as evidence enough, especially when Kuroko wasn't high on anything or delusional. He should probably take back his words and get a new outlook on things.

Then things had to get even more ominous, like, say, the lights flickering about until they _mysteriously_ switched off and his room being slowly filled with purple mist. His surroundings started to fade away from him, leaving only the couch he was on and the strange purple mist. Not only that, the air was gradually getting thicker, as if he was in a dense forest rich in oxygen and all of his senses started to go topsy-turvy, as if he didn't belong in his body. It was getting difficult for him to focus, to stay awake, to breathe.

Everything was out of whack.

Yet, it felt like such a good time to lay on the couch, to be dead to the rest of the world, not for an hour or two, but forever.

" **You should, you know.** "

A voice from the mist spoke. Its tone was that of a woman's; feminine and nice to hear, somewhat like Momoi's, but unlike the kindness and sincerity that could be heard from her talking, this was mocking and mischievous, in a not fun, but dangerous way. Kuroko's instincts were telling to _run far away_ and _never look back_ , to escape from this threatening being, but there was something whispering into his ear, telling him that the voice was _safe_ and to _stay with her_.

Something was obviously wrong with the situation, especially when there was a fuzzy feeling in Kuroko's stomach from being near the voice, as if he was supposed to be happy about it, but he couldn't fight back something he couldn't even see or touch.

" **So you're the human that has found the arrogant king.** " the voice giggled, high and terrifying and it didn't help at all that all Kuroko could do was give a smile. He just felt so goddamn happy, for no reason at all. It was just so powerfully compelling. " **I should've turned him into a thousand planktons for other sea creatures to consume, but that would've been a swift punishment, no? It would've been boring and not at all humiliating.** "

There was really nothing to do to snap Kuroko out of his... happy confusion.

" **You know, I'm surprised that you haven't fallen asleep yet.** " the voice praised. Kuroko didn't really pay attention, he was just so terribly distracted by the humming in the air and the warmth clinging onto his skin, especially the left side of his face, where a misty, slender hand formed to touch and tilt Kuroko's face. " **Most humans do, if they are exposed to magic miasma, especially mine. Seems like you have a higher tolerance for it, but not for the mesmeric spell.** "

" **Hmmm... you're the most interesting human in 237 years.** " the voice dripped with amusement and wonder. " **Then again, being in the presence of Ryu-sama, one tends to get bored easily. He's such a stickler for rules!** " If the voice had a solid form in human shape, it would've pouted.

" **I hope good luck comes your way, because the arrogant king is such a hassle to handle.** " the voice sighed, as if troubled. Kuroko did not pay any heed to it, still entranced. All he did was jerk slightly, then nod very slowly. " **You don't know what he did, or why I turned him like this, right?** "

" **Well, I'll tell you, since you won't remember it anyways.** "

" **You see-** "

.

.

Kuroko awoke with a start, quickly sitting up from his sleeping position on the couch, slightly high strung and perplexed by his current action as well as being unable to recall sleeping on the couch. Was he that tired to just plop onto his furniture without a care in the world, just like that? It wasn't as if the couch was a comfortable place to sleep on either and his joints showed proof of that, because they ached all over and Kuroko now had a stiff neck to deal with as well. Talk about troublesome.

Maybe the whole supernatural business was getting to his head and was making him more tired than usual. Being a writer, Kuroko lived a mostly unhealthy lifestyle that included inconsistent eating and zero exercise in his life, but he never missed his appointed bedtime, especially when he had no deadlines to rush for. Which reminds him, what he did need to rush for, was to write the first draft of a new story. He already completed his old series, which was The White Line, five months ago and his editor, while happy that a series completed its run, was also on the fence on finishing off a popular series that could've made more. Of course, Kuroko would've fought tooth and nail to finish it because he believed that there was no point lengthening a story when it was already perfect for completion and he did. In exchange for completing The White Line, he had to create a new series that would be even better than the previous by being more unique, with a time limit of nine months maximum.

He had already wasted five and he couldn't waste another three, only to have a month left to finish an entire book. That would be too exhausting and mad to even do.

Though, maybe what he needed all along was a break. A break from his new roommate, from Nigou, from his friends, from his job and from everything else he was responsible for. It didn't matter if it was short, as long as he got a break. Hell, he'd sell his soul for an hour of freedom to the devil right now if it could get him away from everyone and everything. He just needed to get away, to break away.

All he needed to do for that to happen, was to step out of the door and be gone for a while.

When he went out of the door, once again stepping out, only this time in the late evening, he didn't notice a shift in the air and a dark purple silhouette waving merrily at Kuroko before twirling around and then vanishing into thin air.

In fact, he didn't even notice that how he suddenly fell asleep was suspicious.

That's because he didn't have any memories of the past few hours that passed when he was enveloped in the mist.

.

.

Honestly, he didn't know why he never did this before. It was possible that it was due to him fearing that it would be out of character for him, seeing that he was a person of silence and written words, but was that the case? He wasn't so sure anymore and as much as he would love to ponder about it, now wasn't the time, not when he was having the time of his life.

In a loud and dark club, with people around his age, also having the time of their lives with alcohol, drugs, flirting with the opposite sex and dancing to the beat. Now that he was here, actually having fun and loosening up, he didn't understand why he never thought of coming to the Paradise Rose before. Surely he would've at least thought that it might have been a novel experience to go here?

He could damn well ponder all he wanted, but another part of him told him to party like there was no tomorrow and to finally be "himself", whatever that meant. He was always himself, wasn't he? Unless, the current him, wasn't the true him? How was he supposed to be "himself", if he was like this his entire life? Could he outgrow his shell and finally be "himself"?

It was such a mystifying idea, but he didn't bother to think further and it could go and burn itself for all he cared.

There was only him, the dancing and the music now.

Nothing else matters.

.

.

The night felt harder to go through as Kuroko wanted nothing more but to lie down and sleep until afternoon rolled by, but that would be bad for his health, as Midorima proved so many times back in university when they shared a dorm. Fatigue seem to cling onto him like a parasite to its host or a dark cloud surrounding him, but there was nothing he could do to stop it and he deserved anyways, for staying out for so long. The best thing he could do was brew himself some coffee to stay awake when he reached home, since he couldn't go to the nearest coffee shop to buy a cup because he was already nearing to the flight of stairs that led upwards.

Well, it was better than nothing, he supposed. The teal haired adult stretched and yawned, walking up the stairs that led to the floor of his apartment, since the elevator was unfortunately in maintenance.

Going to Paradise Rose had been fun and wandering around the city at night was even more exciting. He didn't even know that there were so many high schoolers and biker gangs that gathered and either a) roamed (if they were high school students), or b) zoomed about on their motorcycles (the bikers) on the empty streets. Seeing how much exhilarated hollers he heard then, perhaps he should try taking nightly walks too around the empty city. It seemed way better than sleeping so early. To him, wandering around was much more productive than sleeping.

Though, there was another problem...

His roommate.

Why couldn't his life be simple, free from anything weird or related to the supernatural? It had been for the past twenty-two years. Why couldn't this year be alright?

Maybe if he was a high school girl yearning for excitement of some kind, he would enjoy this. But, him? He was Kuroko Tetsuya, an acclaimed writer under a pseudonym who wrote the best-selling mystery and crime novels. He was supposed to live his life in peace and quiet, enjoying the positive reception he was receiving from his fans and sometimes dragged out to the outside world by his small but close group of friends to get some fresh air.

Though right now he couldn't lament on the fact that his life was no longer normal. He needed help and if there was anyone that could help him or even give him some advice on the current matter, it would be Midorima. He must have some insight on the supernatural topic, as his family did run a temple and some of his close relatives were priests of some kind.

He had a call to make-

But maybe not, when he opened the door, only to come face to face with a livid Akashi in one of Kuroko's old yukatas, the black and grey one with silver flecks swirling at the bottom.

Why was he so angry anyways? Did he read Kuroko's mind about perceiving Akashi as a problem? It was true anyways, wasn't it? So why was he mad? Or was it because Kuroko smelled funny? Granted, Kuroko did go to a club that allowed indoor smoking as well as shisha on the upper floor. Did the smell cling to his clothes? Or was it the alcohol? He wasn't sure, because according to himself, he smelled just fine.

Seriously, what was the problem?

.

.

" _It's three in the morning_."

Kuroko didn't answer, only furrowing his eyebrows.

Why did he feel so... muddled and dull?

Actually, what was he doing before this?

Akashi looked ready to murder someone.

" _Where were you?_ "

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4, alternatively named as, "Interlude: OOC Kuroko appears". Fear not, there is a reason why Kuroko suddenly seems inconsistent. I'm afraid, however, that you'll have to wait for the next chapter for answers.


End file.
